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Let It Be Released

Last Saturday marked the 30th anniversary of the final public appearance of The Beatles. The lunchtime gig atop the windblown roof of Apple headquarters in downtown London lasted 42 minutes before ending abruptly when unamused police pulled the plug. The mini-concert was filmed and recorded originally for the aborted ‘Get Back’ project and saved for about 15 minutes of footage in the ‘Let It Be’ film, John Lennon's quip that he hoped the band had "passed the audition". 

 

The final run through of ‘Get Back’ which appeared on ‘Anthology 3’, the performance has never been released. However, this recording and many others gathering dust in Capitol-EMI vaults may soon be appearing in a store near you.

 

An EMI official told the National Post in a phone interview from Los Angeles that: "It is safe to say that there will be product from The Beatles this year." The official, who did not wish to be named, confirmed that the fans will see some things in 2000 that they have longed for, and maybe some surprises. Here's a suggestion to get started.

 

How about "The Greatest Beatle Songs You've Probably Never Heard?" I've taken the liberty of compiling a subjective, partial list for consideration and discussion...

1. The Absolute Holy Grail of Beatle outtakes: The full, live, in-studio, 27 minute, 11 second, July 18, 1968, third take of ‘Helter Skelter’, which became a 3:36 edit in mono, and 4:29 in stereo on the White Album. This was the biggest ever Beatle recording and Ringo Starr's plaintiff wail of "I've got blisters on me fingers" (heard on the stereo version) brought the marathon song crashing to an end. According to Mark Lewisohn's 1988 ‘The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions’, The Beatles would actually remake ‘Helter Skelter’ in an even more raucous fashion on Sept. 9 during a 21-take session when producer George Martin was absent. This recording, which John Lennon described as "mad" should be considered, too.
   

2. The complete ‘Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl’ concert. The 1977 release, which has never been available on CD, omitted the Aug. 30, 1965, performances of ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby’, ‘Baby's In Black’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, and ‘I'm Down’. The boys, in three-track stereo, really rock out despite the jet-engine crowd noise.
   

3. The January 1969, Twickenham Film Studios soundstage sessions for the ill fated ‘Get Back’ album and film. The Beatles, at their sloppy and informal best, were recorded on two-track tape synched to the film stock. In sessions described by Lewisohn as "strictly rehearsals," The Beatles jammed through such standards as ‘Around and Around’, ‘Hi Heel Sneakers’, ‘House of the Rising Sun’, as well as new versions of ‘You Can't Do That’, ‘Long Tall Sally’, and ‘You're Gonna Lose That Girl’. It's all rough around the edges, but the experience of listening to The Beatles interpretations of songs, which originally inspired them to musicianship, is revealing indeed. The boys even got political with ‘Get Off/White Power’, an anti-racist song, get funky with ‘The Animal’ and ‘Famous Person Song’, and do the raunchy, definitely not BBC-approved ‘Suzy Parker’ in which the band sings," When it comes to Suzy Parker, everybody gets well done." Enough for a boxset, or two.
   

4. The EMI engineer Glyn Johns produced and mixed ‘The Beatles -- Get Back, With 11 Other Songs’. George Martin was largely absent from the ‘Get Back’ sessions and twice in January and May 1969, Johns presented The Beatles with finished mixes of the album and twice they were rejected. Although Lewisohn would later give credit to Phil Spector for reworking the "shitty" tapes into ‘Let It Be’, it must be noted that Spector was really wanted only by Lennon. The idea of ‘Get Back’ was getting back to the group's rock 'n' roll roots, something that was lost in the kitsched-up Spector version that McCartney was furious with. The Johns mixwas raw but powerful and featured different performances of ‘Don't Let Me Down’, ‘The One After 909’, and ‘Let It Be’. The unreleased album also contains a soulful take of ‘Save the Last Dance For Me’ and a tune called ‘Rocker’. The front cover, a reprise of The Beatles first record for EMI, was eventually used for the million-selling, two-record set, ‘The Beatles 1967-70’.
   

5. The Jan. 30, 1969, rooftops concert. Recorded in eight-track stereo by tape operator Alan Parsons, The Beatles roared through nine songs, including three versions of ‘Get Back’. Lennon is in fine form here -- launching into ‘Dig a Pony’ with a false start -- "One, two, three, hold it ... (John blows his nose) thank you, brothers ... hands too cold to play the chords." This gig has a killer take of ‘I've Got a Feeling’ that was not seen in the ‘Let It Be’ film and even a busk of an impromptu ‘God Save the Queen’ with Billy Preston on organ.
   

6. An updated ‘Beatles at the Beeb’. The highly anticipated 1994 CD release was a good start but, at best, was a compromise due to the sheer volume of recordings available. More stuff from the ‘Saturday Club’ with BBC announcer Brian Matthew, which featured terrific banter with the boys, would be welcome.
   

7. The ‘A Hard Day's Night’ soundtrack in stereo. Believe it or not, most people have not heard this record in true stereo. Recorded on a new four-track machine in 1964, it has only been available in stereo as a United Kingdom import and audiophile pressing. All North American United Artists versions are mock stereo and the CD is in mono. Put out the UA version in stereo, even with the chintzy instrumentals.
   
   

Finally, how about a song that is rumored to exist but probably doesn't? Probably the most rumored "lost" track would be something the bootleggers have released and dubbed ‘Peace of Mind’. From the 1967 psychedelic era, this rather short, unearthly sounding recording was reportedly found in the trash behind the Abbey Road recording studio. Mark Lewisohn could find no record of it in the session or tape archives. Still, it could be The Beatles.

 

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